North Koreans seek to improve their lot in China

Thousands live in fear of arrest

March 24, 2003|By Michael A. Lev, Tribune foreign correspondent.

TUMEN, China — When the North Korean refugee, a middle-age man, first turned up on the Chinese side of the border, his body was so emaciated and his complexion so darkened from malnutrition that he could not show himself in public for fear of instant arrest. He looked too obviously what he was: a desperate illegal immigrant.

It is five months later and he is still in China, about 12 pounds heavier, a bit healthier, but not much happier.

He is unable to find work to raise $200 to take home to buy rice for his family. Poor Korean-Chinese relatives care for him, but he must shuttle among their homes every 10 days to reduce the financial burden and avoid detection by Chinese authorities.

"I can't sleep at night," he said, during a cautious venture into public, wearing a baseball cap low on his head. "I'm homesick. I'm worried about my wife and children. I don't care about getting arrested. I've lived my life. I'm not afraid of death. But if the North Korean side finds out that I've been in China, my family could get into trouble. They could be put into a labor camp."

The North Korean man is like thousands of others hiding in the band of ethnic Korean cities and villages in China's northeastern corner.

Pursued by Chinese police and at risk of being reported by unsympathetic neighbors or captured by North Korean agents who are said to have infiltrated the region, the refugees are a shadowy presence here, an underground humanitarian crisis and a sensitive political issue for the Chinese government.

The refugees also represent an important factor in how China wants to handle the North Korean nuclear standoff. It has insisted that the United States resolve the problem through direct negotiations, not by threatening sanctions or using other pressure tactics that might lead to a political or economic crisis in North Korea--potentially setting off a stampede of refugees.

China considers refugees from North Korea to be illegal economic migrants, not political victims who deserve asylum, even though they may face harsh punishment if returned.

Recently there have been several dozen daring escapes by North Korean refugees who jumped fences and scrambled past guards into embassies and other foreign missions in Beijing. In such public cases, China has relented and allowed them to leave for South Korea.

But otherwise, the government refuses to aid the North Koreans. Here in the border region, they are captured and repatriated.

At this border city along the narrow Tumen River, everyone can point to the hilltop detention center that holds captured North Koreans. Officials will not confirm it. Every few days, residents say, a military truck containing refugees crosses the Friendship Bridge into North Korea.

Stories of torture

What happens then is not known, but there have been persistent stories of executions and torture. According to recent accounts by North Koreans who have crossed the border several times, those sent home are held in labor camps for a month or so and then released. Family members also face punishment.

No one knows how many refugees are in China; estimates have ranged from 20,000 to 200,000 or more. There seem to be fewer now, apparently because the Chinese government has cracked down.

Some who cross the river--frozen in winter, but easily traversed otherwise--have plans to escape to South Korea. Others come temporarily to raise money by working for farmers or by approaching relatives or South Korean visitors.

What is clear is that although the refugees can usually find food or money in China, going there is a dangerous gambit.

Many of the Chinese-Koreans who comprise about 50 percent of the area's population are sympathetic, but they cannot challenge the government. The police maintain checkpoints on the highways and offer money for tips on the whereabouts of refugees.

At one local shop, where the ethnic Korean owner has taken in several North Koreans during the past year, a young refugee showed up several weeks ago looking for help. The refugee spent his days reading books in the stores and sleeping in a 60-cent booth at a video parlor, using money from a South Korean tourist.

Several days ago, a plainclothes officer walked into the store, looked at the refugee and, in Chinese, asked his name. The young refugee could not reply and was taken away. Somebody ratted on him, the shopkeeper speculated.

"Because I have my own son, and we are the same nationality, when I see people like him who don't have enough money, or enough clothes, it breaks my heart," the shopkeeper said.

The middle-age refugee who has been here for five months has collected about $120 so far from relatives and friends. If he can raise $200, it would buy enough rice at home to last his family for a year, he said.

Plan to make money

He hopes to return home soon and has a plan to bring along a cellular phone. They are illegal in North Korea, but China's mobile phone signal reaches across the border, and visiting Chinese businessmen would pay to use the phone.